The Kitten Chronicles
by The Penguin Ate My Homework
Summary: Some parents just don't do their jobs, and Jennyanydots is left to deal with the consequences... A series of one-shots following our favorite cats and their kittens.
1. The Curious Kitten

**Disclaimer: I do not own the musical Cats or any of its characters. However, I do own the kittens.**

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**The Curious Kitten**

"Tugger!"

The Rum Tum Tugger smirked, choosing to ignore the irritating voice shouting his name. Not that he wasn't used to queens shouting his name out for one reason or another, but usually they were happy to see him. This one definitely not happy. And although he couldn't make out the owner of the voice over Etcetera's squealing, the mere fact that the queen wasn't happy with him meant it was either Jellylorum, Jennyanydots, Demeter, or Bomba in one of her moods.

"Tugger!"

The voice was louder this time, but Tugger continued to ignore it, whipping his hips from side to side. The four queen-kittens around him desperately tried to keep up, their eyes just barely managing to follow his movements. Poor Victoria was starting to look a little dizzy from swinging her head around, but Etcetera was enthusiastic as ever (of course). Their mews of pleasure let him know that, oh yeah, he still had it.

Of course. The day the Tugger lost his appeal would be a long way off.

Suddenly the squealing kittens were squealing for an entirely different reason, scrambling out of the way as an irate tabby queen stormed straight through their group and did the unthinkable:

She grabbed the Rum Tum Tugger's mane.

Tugger let out a wordless protest as the queens gasped in shock, their eyes wide as they regrouped, huddling together to the maned tom's left. Jennyanydots didn't pay attention to any of them, giving the Curious Cat a glare that made him want to cringe back, whimpering. He resisted the urge (it wouldn't do to look cowardly in front of his fanclub).

"Come with me," the normally cheerful queen snapped, not releasing her hold as she turned and marched off the way she had come. Tugger had no choice but to follow, half-stumbling but having no choice but to walk backwards as she dragged him. His fanqueens mewed sadly as he left them, but there was nothing he could do while she still held his fur.

"Jenny, Jenny!" he shouted desperately, fearing for the safety of his beloved mane. "What's up? I can walk, Jenny, I'll follow, I swear! Just let go of the mane. C'mon, please?" His begging did the trick, and with a huff Jenny finally let go, glaring as he came to a stop to comb down the fur as best he could. Once he noticed his stare on her, he fluffed the vest-like hair proudly and started walking again.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," he muttered. "What's this about, anyway? I didn't do anything…recently."

"You'll see," Jenny hissed, obviously angry about something. The reason became clear just a moment later, although when Tugger saw it, he wasn't sure whether he should laugh or feel proud.

Veles had finally been declared old enough to kitten-sit at fourteen years (under the supervision of his mother, Jenny). He was sitting on a junk-pile with his arms crossed, smirking at the sight in front of him. Arion, Meret and Thanatos were seated next to him, Thanatos apparently trying to teach the younger kittens something. That wasn't what caught the Tugger's eye.

Not too far away was another gathering of kittens. Jarilo, Clorinda, Laodice, and Hypnos were all in a circle around Satis. The situation was a lot like the one the Tugger himself had just left, except that it was his seven-year-old queen-kitten that was shaking her hips, and the other four kittens just looked puzzled.

"Explain this," Jennyanydots hissed to him, pointing towards the center of the clearing. "You see what kind of example you're setting for your daughter?"

"Aw, Jenny, lighten up," Tugger said in his most soothing voice. "Looks like the kittens're just havin' fun."

"Having _fun_?" Jenny asked incredulously. "Tugger! That's highly inappropriate behavior for a kitten who's only seven years old! Not to mention, she bullied those kittens into sitting around her because she thought that's what she's supposed to do! She tried to get Veles in on it too, if you believe that!"

"Oh, I believe it," Tugger snorted, watching his daughter shake in a passable imitation of him, and settling finally on pride rather than laughter. "Looks like he's enjoying the show, too."

Jenny's head whipped around to glare at her son, who was watching Satis with the same smirk on his face. He looked like he was on the verge of laughter, but when he sensed his mother's intense glare, he turned to her with a '_Who, me?_' look on his face. Jenny's glare didn't diminish as she turned back towards Tugger, growling softly.

"That's not funny! Tugger, you have to stop this! The kit's just as stubborn as you were, she won't listen to Veles _or_ to me. And you have to tell her not to do it again! She can't force the other kittens into games they don't want to pl—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Tugger interrupted her, smoothly moving away and heading towards the center. Satis was enjoying her time in the spotlight immensely, but grinned and waved as her father approached.

"Hi, Daddy!" she chirped, not bothering to stop wiggling as she greeted him. "Look! I do it like you!"

Tugger couldn't hide his "proud father" grin, and didn't bother trying. "_Nice_, babe! Looks like you even got a little fanclub of your own, huh?"

Satis nodded enthusiastically, stopping her shaking for a moment to smooth down her scarlet fur and fluff up the mane she'd inherited from her father. "Uh-huh, uh-huh! But Thannie and Vellie and Mer were mean, they wouldn't play! And Meret wouldn't even let Arion play either!" Satis pouted to show her displeasure. "But that's okay, 'cause I got Jari and Hyppie and 'Dice and 'Rinda!"

The four kittens on the ground were looking up at Tugger with wide eyes, still confused about what they were supposed to be doing.

"Aw, babe, that's okay," he consoled her, holding out an arm. The kitten abandoned her "fanclub" in a hurry, running to take her usual place by her father's side as he draped the arm over her shoulder. "C'mon, let's go visit your mother, huh? Show off those moves to her. Make 'er proud."

"'Kay!" Satis responded happily, and the two headed off, paying no mind to the glare still directed at Tugger from Jennyanydots as they passed.

Needless to say, Tugger never told Satis off for what she had done. And Bombalurina was, in fact, extremely proud of her kitten for her "moves".

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**A/N:** Heh, this is going to be fun to write!

All of the kittens here also appeared in my story _A Spark Neglected_, albeit only for a sentence or two for most. I also plan on adding in kittens that haven't been born yet in my little world (timelines do not exist here! Who knows? Maybe the next one will be set years in the future, and then back to around this time for the chapter after that!).


	2. The Notorious Kitten

**Disclaimer: I do not own the musical Cats or any of its characters. However, I do own the kittens.**

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**The Notorious Kitten**

Jennyanydots was on the hunt again. She stalked through the Junkyard, ignoring the cats that greeted her as she passed by them. She knew where her target would be, and she would not pay attention to anything else.

In her wake trotted a little tiger-striped queen-kitten, looking extraordinarily proud of herself. She was clutching a brown sack in her paws, scurrying to keep up with the tabby queen.

Finally Jenny seemed to have reached her destination. She paused outside of a den, glaring into the dark insides for almost a full minute until the occupants looked up and noticed her.

Mungojerrie hastily stood, scrambling towards the door and blocking Jenny's view into the den, but she could still hear Rumpleteazer rushing around, struggling to hide the stolen goods on the floor. Jenny growled, and Clorinda's eyes widened with excitement. She went to run around both Jenny and her father, but the Gumbie Cat grabbed onto her tail as she passed, yanking the kitten back.

"Oh, no," she said softly. "I'm not done with you yet."

The tiger kitten was smart enough to look afraid.

Jenny stood in front of Mungojerrie with her arms folded, waiting. The tom began to look more and more nervous as time went on. After another minute, Rumpleteazer appeared, looking abashed.

"Er…Mum, wot're you doin' 'ere?" she questioned in that ridiculous accent she'd picked up from her mate. Jenny's ears flattened, and her eyes narrowed.

"What have you got in there?" she asked, instead of answering her daughter's question. Teazer and Jerrie exchanged a look, and Teazer was the one to speak again.

"Nothin', Mum," she said, and looked as if she were about to go on when Jenny interrupted.

"And I suppose that 'nothing' is stolen, isn't it?" she asked. "No wonder your kitten has such bad habits! Do you know what she's done? Show them, Clorinda," she ordered, and the little queen-kit grinned as she turned over her bag of loot and tipped its contents out onto the ground.

A variety of items fell out. Mungojerrie grabbed one with a look of disbelief on his face, holding it up for inspection.

"Cor! Issat Tuggah's collah?" he asked, and Clorinda puffed her chest out proudly. "'Ow'd you evah manage t'get _that_? Oi've bin tryin' for it for_evah_ an' Oi—"

"Mungojerrie!" Jenny scolded, folding her arms and giving him a fierce look. "You are setting an _awful_ example for your daughter! _Rumpleteazer_!"

The queen froze, looking up guiltily. She'd been fingering the white collar on the ground with a wistful expression.

"Oi was just lookin'," she defended herself indignantly. "'At's real diamond's on t'ere!"

Jenny almost growled in frustration. "You two need to return all of these—_all of them, Teazer_—to their rightful owners. Immediately! And then you need to teach your kitten why stealing is wrong. _Even if the two of you seem to have missed that lesson yourselves._"

Without another word, she turned and stomped off, pausing after a few steps to glare at them and shout back, "And I'll know if you don't return every last piece! I know what was in there, and I know who they belong to!"

Once she was gone, Mungojerrie sighed. He was still holding the Rum Tum Tugger's spiked collar, testing the sharpness of the points with a finger.

"'Ow'd you manage t'get it, Clor? 'e nevah takes it off, far as Oi can tell, an' the one time Oi tried ta snatch it off 'im, 'e spotted me an'…nevahmind."

"Oi seem ta recall you comin' runnin' back 'ere, screamin' for me 'coz the Tuggah was aftah you," Rumpleteazer giggled, holding the Victoria's diamond collar up to her own throat, as if to try it on herself. Well, she did have a new string of pearls now, but diamonds would be nice…

"Oi just waited 'till 'e was sittin' wit' Bomba," Clorinda explained. "'e was real distracted wit' 'er dere, so Oi just snuck up behind 'im an' took it!"

"Noice job, luv," Mungojerrie said with a father's pride, grinning at his daughter. She purred in pleasure, but Mungoerrie cast a glance towards the direction Jennyanydots had gone off in.

"But we gotta give all this stuff back," he said, pretending not to notice Teazer's pout as she dropped the diamond collar again. "So, lessee…tha's Tuggah's collah, an' Vicky's, an'…wassat? I nevah seen _that_ before."

Clorinda picked up the little pouch and spilled its contents out, keeping it a little separate from the other pile, and giggled. The sound was eerily like that of her mother, and Mungojerrie stifled the urge to shush her.

"Oi got it from Misto's den," she declared, and the tiger-striped adults turned wide-eyed stares to each other. "I's jus' a bunch of knives an' forks an' spoons an' corks an' stuff, though, I dunno why 'e wants it…"

"'Rinda, luv, Oi am so proud of you," Rumpleteazer said sincerely, wrapping both arms around her daughter and hugging her tightly. "Now, le's get all t'ese back t' they're rightful ownahs, Oi dun' want Jenny comin' back 'round 'ere. An' I dun' want Misto t'find out t'at you took something of 'is."

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**A/N:** I'm sorry about the accents. I didn't want to do them, I really didn't, but a little voice inside of me just kept going "Do it...do it..._do it_..." until finally I gave in.


	3. The Dancing, Conjuring Kitten

**Disclaimer: I do not own the musical Cats or any of its characters. However, I do own the kittens.**

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**The Dancing, Conjuring Kitten**

Jennyanydots watched the little tuxedo kitten practice with an expression of worry on her face.

"Selene?" she said softly, and though one black ear flicked towards her to show that the kitten was paying attention, Selene didn't even bother to look at her. "Wouldn't you rather come and play with the other kittens? They're playing tag, and I'm sure they'd love to have you playing with them."

"No!" came the stubborn reply, and Jenny bit back a sigh. She decided to try again.

"Are you sure? It must be boring for you to do nothing but practice all day. Surely--"

"No!"

This time, Jenny didn't bother to hold in the sigh. It was strange, she thought. Finally she had the well-behaved, kind, sweet, calm kitten that she'd always dreamed of kitten-sitting, yet now she found that she would much prefer another Rum Tum Tugger to the endless practicing and dancing of Selene.

It wasn't that dancing was a _bad_ thing. No, she was fine with the kitten wanting to dance and wanting to be good at it. What she _wasn't_ so fine with was the way she refused to do anything but dance, the way she was already attempting some of the moves her mother was famous for performing. The most difficult moves, the ones that often resulted in a kitten toppled over on her side instead of a kitten standing upright. Then the tears would come, and Jenny could never tell if they were tears of pain or tears because she just couldn't do it right...

_And there she goes._

Selene was now on her side on the ground, the leg she had been attempting to hold straight up in the air dropping back to the ground. For one moment she blinked those enormous brown eyes, and Jenny braced herself, preparing for the worst--

First there was a little whimper, a wobble of the chin as she tried to hold in the sobs, but soon enough one escaped, a tear dripped down the distraught white face _and now here comes the crying..._

But before Selene could get out more than one sob and before Jenny could do anything but stare, a blur of white rushed in and scooped up the little tuxedo, holding her close and murmuring comforting words.

"It's all right, my dear, it took me a long, long time to perfect that move, and you're already doing so well..." the queen was saying, hugging her daughter tightly. Jenny let herself smile faintly. Victoria was one of the few mothers that she truly approved of--a good mother, always on the lookout for the well-being of her kitten, teaching her good things rather than things a young kitten shouldn't be doing...

"Come, now, let's try again, shall we?" _Nevermind._

"Victoria? May I speak with you for a moment, please?" Jenny called out in her sweetest voice, and the white queen looked questioningly over at her. The look on Jenny's face was anything but happy, so it was with careful steps that Victoria left her kitten and went to speak with the tabby queen.

It wasn't lost on Jenny that, the moment Victoria left Selene's side, a certain tuxedo tom appeared there and took over where Victoria had left off. She ignored it for the time being.

"Victoria? What are you doing to your daughter?" Jenny asked, still in that sweet voice. Victoria was puzzled.

"Teaching her how to dance?" she guessed, shrugging. Jenny shook her head, not in disagreement, but in disapproval.

"That's fine, dear, but is it really necessary for her to practice every moment of every day? She's just a kitten, Victoria, but she never plays with any of the others, is never interested in anything but dancing and trying to do moves that she is _far_ too young to be doing...and you encourage her! She could seriously hurt herself!"

Victoria at least had the decency to look worried. "I realize that, but Misto and I supervise her and help her constantly. We make sure that she is careful and knows what she can do, and what not to--"

"That's not the point!" Jenny snapped, ears flattened in irritation. "The point is, such a young kitten _shouldn't_be constantly dancing. She needs to play, to run around, to enjoy her kittenhood!"

"But if she wants to d--"

"Don't. Say. That," Jenny growled, and Victoria appeared startled at her angry tone. The old tabby queen threw her arms up in the air, realizing that she was getting nowhere here. "Oh, whatever! If you insist on training your daughter like some kind of machine and letting her dance away her kittenhood, then do it! But then let it be on_ you_ when all she knows of life is dancing, or when she hurts herself trying to be like you."

Victoria's eyes were as large as her daughter's at this point, and she looked taken aback. Quietly, she whispered, "This is how I spent _my_ kittenhood."

Then, with graceful steps stemming from a lifetime of dancing, she turned and pranced back towards her mate and kitten, leaving Jenny with a surprised look and a vague feeling of guilt.

"Look! Look, Mama!" Selene was saying proudly, her arms held above her head and one leg stretched up, nearly perfectly vertical as she balanced on the toes of her other foot. Even with the slight wobble of her leg as she tried to hold herself up, she still appeared nearly as graceful as her mother. She would be a true ballerina someday, if this was any indication.

Of course, Mistoffelees standing behind her, one paw on her waist to balance her and the other helping her keep her leg up didn't hurt the attempt much.

Jenny's surprise only deepened when, as the kitten's grin of pride stretched her face, her fur crackled with electricity.

Mistoffelees noticed the incredulous look that Jenny was sending his way and shrugged sheepishly.

"Did I forget to mention that she's coming into her magical powers?" he asked softly, and Jenny's shock turned to irritation and annoyance.

"Don't expect me to deal with _that_!" she snapped, and, shaking her head, turned to stalk off.

She pretended not to hear the giggles of the family behind her.

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**A/N:** I liked writing this chapter. Not sure how others will take it, but I just couldn't leave alone the image of Misto trying to help his daughter with Vicky's famous dance...just too cute to resist writing.


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